


Black Moon

by excentrykemuse



Series: Black Moon [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Twilight Series - Stephenie Meyer
Genre: F/M, Harry Potter Epilogue What Epilogue | EWE
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-03
Updated: 2018-09-03
Packaged: 2019-07-06 05:35:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,338
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15879597
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/excentrykemuse/pseuds/excentrykemuse
Summary: Edward left her alone in the woods.  Harry Potter found her.  EWE/New Moon.  Harry/Bella.





	Black Moon

**Author's Note:**

> This story had been haunting me since back in '09. I finally wrote it in about '15/'16 as a one shot (which later had a sequel) instead of the original chaptered format I had planned. I hope you enjoy this.

**Title: Black Moon  
Fandom:** Harry Potter Series/Twilight Series  
 **Years:** EWE/New Moon  
 **Pairing:** Harry Potter/Bella Swan, former Harry/Ginny  
 **Warnings:** EWE, a strong Bella  
 **Summary:** Edward left her alone in the woods. Harry Potter found her.

**Black Moon**

She should have known, Bella thought to herself bitterly as she wandered through the forest behind her house. Charlie had come home just Tuesday night talking about the new English doctor that was coming to Forks.

Carlisle was too conscientious to not give notice. No, Edward had pretended for however long that notice was. He had made up his mind that he no longer loved her, told his family that he wanted to leave, and they had acted accordingly.

Of course they had.

It was all too simple, wasn’t it?

Then Edward just had to play along with Bella and their “little romance” for however long he had to before just telling her and going. And now they were gone.

That didn’t stop Bella from looking for him, though. She would never stop looking. They were meant to be together. Hadn’t everything they’d gone through, with his bloodlust, with James, proven that they were meant to be?

Bella thought it had.

Obviously Edward hadn’t felt the same way.

She closed her eyes against the tears. It was all too painful. Remembering back to her eighteenth birthday, that horrible year that made her one year older than Edward, and the incident with the paper cut just robbed her of her breath entirely. Had Edward known then? Had the entire family? Had they made believe her birthday?

Turning to the side, Bella was sick all over the pine needles. There was barely anything in her stomach, but what little bile she could summon tore up out of her stomach. She panted for several minutes afterward. 

Then her knees gave way and she didn’t have the strength to get up again.

It was dark now, she noticed absently. She wondered how long she had been wandering the forest. 

Bella wasn’t certain how much longer it was before the cold seeped completely into her bones and she was lying on her side, staring at the trunk of a birch tree. This couldn’t be it. This couldn’t be her life. Not even a year ago she was living happily in Phoenix with her mother.

Sometimes she blamed Phil. Bella knew she shouldn’t, but without him, her life would have continued the way it always had. She would have been the adult in the family, taking care of the bills, of her mom, but they were happy that way. Then her mom had met Phil and Bella knew that while he was kind that there was no room in his heart for her. Three’s a crowd, after all.

It was all so pathetic.

That led her here, to this moment, as she lay on the damp forest floor, smelling the stench of her own vomit.

She wasn’t sure when she’d closed her eyes, but she remembered when she’d opened them.

There was a light. A pinprick of light and it had shone in her face. She blinked at it a couple of times before it went out. Then there had been the form of a man—lithe, young, yet strong. He had bent over her and picked her up as if she weighed nothing at all. At first Bella had thought he was a vampire but then she knew that that couldn’t be right. She felt the gentle heat of a human radiating from his skin, not the unrelenting cold of the undead. There was also the fact that she could feel the muscles move beneath her hands and they didn’t feel like marble. No, this was definitely a man. However, he was one that Bella didn’t know.

“Sh,” the stranger murmured as he clutched her close. “I’m bringing you home to your father.”

“Charlie?” she asked stupidly.

The stranger nodded. “He has half the town out searching for you.”

Then she slipped into slumber.

Bella woke up again, in her jeans and shirt, in her bed. She was tucked into her blankets in a cocoon and she immediately thought of the stranger, who had held her so tenderly as if she were made of glass. In that he was like Edward but, as far as she could tell, that was where the similarities ended.

The sun was shining, which was strange for Forks, but she didn’t think much of it.

When she came downstairs, washed and warm, she met Charlie who was sitting at the table with a cup of coffee. On the table was a bouquet of sunflowers.

“Charlie?” she asked, confused.

“Bella, we need to talk. But before we do, these are from Dr. Potter.”

“Dr. Potter.” She had no idea who that was. Carefully she approached the flowers and took the little card that was with them. It read simply, May they bring a smile to your face. She couldn’t help but smile a little at that.

Her father was watching her carefully. “Dr. Potter is the new doctor at the hospital. He’s Dr. Cullen’s replacement.” Bella’s head whipped up at that. Charlie looked at her, his gaze telling her that he would be getting answers—and soon. “He’s the one who found you last night.”

“But he’s too young—“ Bella began to protest, remembering the physique of the man.

Snorting into his coffee, Charlie looked up at her. “Dr. Potter is about twenty-one. He’s a prodigy. We’re lucky to have him. Turns out he wanted to leave England quite badly.”

“Quite—badly?” Bella parroted, taking a seat. She was utterly confused.

“No one’s really sure, Bells,” he said. “And don’t think you’re going to school. Dr. Potter forbade it.”

“He—“

“Yes, and you’re to go to the hospital at four p.m. for a check up. I told him to call if you didn’t show up.”

It seemed there would be no crossing Charlie today. The rest of the conversation had been uncomfortable, when Bella had to admit that Edward had left her in the forest, she learned that he and his family had left the day before for Alaska. It tore through Bella’s heart, which already felt like a gaping hole.

At four, though, she was at the hospital, waiting while a receptionist looked for her chart and told her which office to go to.

Dr. Potter had been waiting for her when she arrived. He was sitting at his desk swearing softly at the computer he was typing at. Bella took a few seconds to take the man in. 

He was barely older than she was, with round glasses on his nose, bottle green eyes and a mop of messy black hair. His body, however, was what Bella remembered. It was lean yet strong. She could see the tendons flexing even from beneath the doctor’s lab coat.

Dr. Potter looked up and smiled at her. “Miss Swan.” He stood and motioned for her to come in. “It’s a pleasure to see you up and about.”

“Tha-thank you for the flowers,” she said hesitantly, blushing despite herself. She felt like she was a sixteen year old again! “They were beautiful.”

She dropped her bag near the door, which she noticed was left open a crack not-quite-accidentally.

“I’m glad you liked them,” Dr. Potter said, smiling. “I thought you might need something to brighten your day.”

“Um, yes.”

The two looked at each other and Bella found she couldn’t look away. It was strange—she only had ever felt this way with Edward, this not being able to look away occurrence. However, with Dr. Potter—he was so electric. His very being screamed power and protection and something a little dangerous.

“If you could get up on the bed,” Dr. Potter said, breaking the spell. “Sitting is fine.”

Bella blushed to be caught staring like that.

The exam was routine. He took her temperature, checked her vision, made certain she hadn’t sustained a concussion, and finally pronounced her to be in good health.

“I want you to take it easy for the rest of the day,” he stated quietly as she hopped off the table. “You may go to school tomorrow, but I don’t want you overtaxing yourself. If you get a bad headache—the type that’s out of the ordinary—or get dizzy, I want you to call the hospital.”

She nodded.

That night the nightmares began. She saw Edward leaving her in the woods and was searching and searching and searching and yet she couldn’t find him. Then there were strong arms and bottle green eyes and a kind smile. She woke up screaming, clutching her shirt just over her heart, as if it were weeping. Edward left a hole in her that she felt might never be filled.

When she came downstairs the next morning, sleep deprived but ready for the distraction school would give her, she found another bouquet.

Charlie was sitting at the little table drinking coffee. He stared at the stargazer lilies. “They arrived half an hour ago.”

“I—what?”

“The flowers.” He gestured toward them helpfully. “Well, go on. Open up the card.”

Bella felt herself moving rather than choosing to move forward. Hesitantly, she reached out and took the card. She stared at her address which was printed so nicely.

“We’re waiting, Bells,” her father said, smiling.

She shifted her gaze to him before opening the card. May today be better than yesterday. HP.

“Who’s H.P.?” she asked, looking over at Charlie.

He snorted into his mug. “Dr. Harry Potter.”

Bella looked back at the little card and then placed it back with the flowers. Hopefully the card would prove prophetic.

The nightmares didn’t stop; neither did the flowers. Bluebells, carnations, tiger lilies, roses, a pot of ivy, something. Soon Bella’s room was covered in flowers and when she woke up screaming in the middle of the night, she would be soothed by their mingled scents.

Two weeks after Edward had left her, Bella was cleaning as it was a Saturday and the doorbell rang. Bella stopped. Charlie was sitting in front of the television, engrossed in the game, and so she hesitantly put down her duster and went to the door. He was holding a bouquet of dandelions.

“Dr. Potter?” she asked, startled.

He looked up at her, seeming to see the tear tracks that she could never seem to wash away, and smiled sadly at her. “Harry, please. I’m not your doctor.”

“Harry,” she said in bewilderment. 

Bella knew how she looked. She was wearing old sweats and her hair was lank and in a ponytail behind her back.

“Won’t you come in?”

He gave her that same sad, knowing smile. “Thank you, Isabella.” 

After she had closed the door, he gave her the flowers. “They reminded me of your eyes.”

“My eyes?” she stated, shocked. She didn’t hear Charlie turn off the television behind her, she was so focused on Harry. “They’re just a dull brown.”

“They’re hardly dull, but if you look closely, there are flecks of gold at the edges.”

Bella stared at him in wonderment. “How could you possibly—?”

She was fortunately saved by her father. “Dr. Potter, nice to see you here.”

Bella looked about her before going to the kitchen and setting the flowers in a small glass that she filled with water. She set them in the center of the table as her father and Harry exchanged pleasantries.

“So what brings you here?” Charlie asked.

“Well, sir, I was hoping to take Isabella on a walk—not in the woods, of course.”

“Of course,” Charlie agreed. Calling into the kitchen, he said, “How do you feel about that, Bells?” He was smiling at her. Harry was looking at her with that same penetrating look he’d had back at the hospital.

“I—“ she began. “Is that allowed?” She looked quickly between the two of them. She never thought to outright deny the request. She was simply confused. “I mean, you never liked Edward and he was in high school with me and Dr. Potter—“

“Harry,” he interjected.

“Harry,” she offered him a small smile despite herself, “is a doctor at the hospital.”

Charlie clapped Harry on the shoulder. “Dr. Potter is a great guy and he’s not going to let you fall through windows and break nearly every bone in your body. Plus, Bella, I told you he was a prodigy. He’s practically your age.”

Bella looked at Harry pleadingly.

Harry, taking the cue, said, “Perhaps Isabella and I can just sit here and talk—while you chaperone, of course.”

Charlie looked at Harry like he was a madman. Then he looked at Bella. “What do you say?”

“Let-let me just get changed,” she squeaked before rushing up the stairs, as quickly as she could rush these days being so slow in thought and body. She could feel Harry’s penetrating stare on her retreating form. By the time she made it to her room, she was breathing heavily from nerves. What exactly was happening to her? Two weeks ago she was happily dating Edward, just waiting for the day to be made a vampire, and now—now—

She shook her head and scrubbed her face with the pads of her hands.

“Right. Clothing.”

Ten minutes later she descended the stairs in a pair of jeans Alice hadn’t managed to throw away and a comfortable green sweater. She’d even talked herself into putting on some light make up. Harry was sitting at the table, staring at his folded hands, while Charlie was once again watching the game. Bella let out a breath.

She offered a smile as she took the seat opposite from Harry. “Thank you for the flowers,” she began hesitantly. “It’s become a kind of game for me to guess what type will be waiting for me when I come downstairs in the morning.”

He smiled at her, his beautiful eyes lighting up. “Are you ever right?”

She shook her head. “No, I’m afraid not.” She bit her lip and glanced at him. A scar in the shape of a lightning bolt was peaking out from his forehead. “H-how did you get that?” she asked, motioning toward it. “If you don’t mind me asking.”

“Oh, that,” he said, looking down at his hands. “My parents died in a car crash and I managed to survive it. But I got that scar.” Bella sensed that there was more to the story, but she didn’t pry any further. “How has school been?”

“I—“ she paused and swallowed. Looking down at the table, she traced one of the whirls with her finger. “It. It’s hard. I always sat with Edward and his brothers and sisters. Was always with Edward in every class and now, now he’s gone.”

Bella looked away and blinked back the tears. She was surprised when a warm, calloused hand engulfed hers. Looking at Harry, she saw that he was smiling sadly at her again.

“It gets easier. I know you don’t think it will, but it does.”

“Gone through many break ups?”

He laughed. It was a full, rich sound, which made Bella smile.

Charlie looked over at them briefly.

“Two. The first one wasn’t that bad. The second was more of a tangle of families and legalities.”

“You were married? Aren’t you—well, young?” Bella asked, blushing.

Harry looked at her, his eyes holding some emotion she couldn’t recognize. “Ginny and I married when we were just eighteen. I married her because, well, she was my best friend’s little sister and I would have done almost anything to be a part of the Weasley family. Of course, at the time, I didn’t realize that’s what I was doing. I was caught up in it all, the engagement, the wedding, but then it was what comes after. The horrible silences where you have nothing to say to each other. The arguments. That’s when you realize that you’ve been blind the entire time.”

“That must be why you wanted to leave England so badly,” Bella mused.

Nodding, Harry looked at her. “You don’t mind?”

“Mind?”

“Many girls your age would mind that a divorced man was sending them flowers and asking them to go out on walks.”

Bella looked down at the table. The sadness of Edward missing almost overwhelmed her and she had to blink away tears again. Once again, she felt Harry’s hand on hers. “I’m sorry,” she murmured. “I just—I didn’t think a month ago that Edward would be gone and that someone else would want to date me.”

“Is it too soon?” He gave her that sad, knowing smile.

Bella smiled at him through her tears. “Just take it slow. Take it slow.”

Of course, there were rumors around school. At first Bella didn’t notice them because she was in a haze of sadness and loss. Every night she had the same nightmare, and every night it would end with Harry finding her and Bella waking up to the smell of flowers.

A boy, Jonathan, worked at the local florist’s. He was a bit of a gossip and one day when Bella was sitting at the lunch table, not eating anything because her appetite had left her when Edward did, she heard Jessica saying, “Bella, is it true that Dr. Potter sends you flowers every day?”

Bella looked at her, confused. “Sorry?”

“Dr. Potter. Flowers.”

Bella shook her head, her hair swishing around her face. “W-what?”

“It’s all over school,” Lauren said in a bored tone. “Is it true or not? Are you dating the new doctor?”

Fortunately, Angela spoke next. “I know Dr. Potter. I babysit for him after school and on weekends. He pays really well.”

Bella’s head snapped toward her. Did she really just say—?

“He has a kid?” Jessica asked. She was clearly as stunned as Bella felt.

Angela nodded, taking another bite of her hamburger. “Yes. His name is James and he’s about a year old. He’s the most adorable thing! I pick him up from daycare every day.” She nodded to herself. “I’ve never seen a cuter baby. He has this gorgeous auburn hair—“

Bella tuned her out at that point. 

The nightmares got worse after that. Edward would leave her in the forest, telling her that he had never loved her, and then Harry would appear. Except he wouldn’t be alone. Instead he’d be holding a small child and he would look between her and the infant, as if trying to decide between the two of them, and then would kiss the child’s head and walk away, clearly leaving Bella as well.

She wasn’t aware how loudly she was screaming until, through all her tears, she felt the strong arms of some stranger—the stranger—Harry—wrap around her in the middle of the night.

Screaming, she tried to push away from him, fearful that he had come in the window just as Edward had for so many months.

“Hush, Bells,” her father said gruffly. “I called Harry to try and help.”

Charlie’s warm, familiar hand brushed her hair away from her face (it must have gotten free from her ponytail) and she calmed down a little.

She turned toward the door and saw Harry with his hands up in surrender. His hair was crazier than usual, as if he had thrown on his jeans and tshirt rather hurriedly, but his eyes were looking at her perceptively. “Chief Swan,” he began, “could you look after James for me? I left his sleeper next to your couch.” 

Charlie looked between the two of them, torn. 

“Maybe if you put him in your room so that he’s close by?” Harry looked over at him imploringly. “I don’t like to leave him.”

“O-of course,” Charlie stammered, taking in Bella’s tear-streaked face and her frame still wracked with sobs. “Sure. I’ll be right back.” He hastily left the room.

“Now, Isabella,” Harry said carefully, coming forward. “You’ve been having nightmares ever since I found you in the woods. And now they’ve gotten worse.”

Bella looked away.

Harry carefully sat next to her on the bed and took her hand. He began to stroke it and the wrist soothingly until they paused over the scar that was shaped like a half-moon.

“Isabella, when were you bitten by a vampire?” he asked calmly.

Bella’s head whipped around to him in confusion. “How—?”

Laughing quietly, Harry looked her directly in the eye. “I have rather a singular specialty in medicine. But, Isabella, you have to tell me about it.”

She smiled at him sadly. “Why do you call me ‘Isabella’?”

“It’s your name.”

“No one else—“

“Well, they should,” he murmured, lifting the palm of her hand to his mouth so that he could kiss it.

She shivered. 

“Now, Isabella—“

Charlie then came in. “James is all settled.”

“Ch-charlie—I have to—“ Bella began, but Harry interrupted.

“I’m afraid I’m going to have to insist on doctor/patient confidentiality, Chief Swan.”

Looking torn, Charlie eventually nodded and left, closing the door behind him.

“Now, Isabella, the vampire,” Harry prompted.

And despite everything, Bella found herself telling Harry everything—from Edward—to the Cullens—to that fateful baseball game—to the chase—to the bite—to Edward sucking the venom out of her—

“He did what?” Harry asked, almost harshly. Still, his grip on her hand remained gentle.

Bella looked down at their hands, where their fingers were now entwined. That seemed right almost.

“Edward sucked the venom out of my arm,” she explained.

“Along with your blood,” he murmured. “Dominium de Sanguine.” He leaned forward and gently kissed her. While it was chaste, it felt deeper than any kiss she had ever felt with Edward. Trying to push Edward from her mind, she leaned in closer, going so far as to lift her free hand and place it at the back of Harry’s head.

They pulled apart several moments later and her eyes then slowly opened.

Harry was smiling at her. “I know how to cure you, Isabella. Edward, by mixing your blood with the venom and then drinking it, became, essentially, your maker although you remained human. We need to break this bond and then, hopefully, these nightmares will be over. It will take me a week, but it’s doable.”

“But—“ Bella began. However, she bit down her words.

“But what?” He looked at her curiously.

“You’re always there. At first you would find me, but now you leave me, too,” she whispered, not making eye contact.

“Why would I leave you?”

She looked toward the door. “Your son.”

Harry kissed the top of her head. “I would never leave you for my son unless you made me choose, Isabella.”

Then he was kissing her again, and she was kissing him back, and then he was gone. All that was left was an open door and the sound of a baby crying. Bella pulled her hair back into a ponytail and curled in on herself again.

Of course, the nightmares continued, but there was a hope that they would soon be over.

“Is it true?” Mike Newton asked one day after class. “Are you really dating Dr. Potter?”

Bella rolled her eyes, used to the question by now. “Why does everyone ask me that?”

“Angela says you show up when he comes home from work.” He looked away from her, perhaps afraid to meet her eyes—or embarrassed.

Well, that was true. Since Harry had given her some strange liquid and the nightmares and the unending sadness had gone, she had been spending a lot of her afterschool time at Harry’s. James really was adorable and apparently got his hair from Harry’s mother. One night she had just rocked him for a full hour, watching his sleeping face. Harry had looked on, smiling as he poured over medical files he had brought home from the hospital.

“I don’t want you ever feeling like the nanny,” he had murmured against her lips as they said goodbye that night. “You are my girlfriend first and foremost.”

“But you’re a dad.”

“Yes, but James should be a delight, not a burden.”

“Bella!”

She shook herself from the memory. “Sorry, Mike. I just—I was thinking.”

She never gave him her answer.

However, it was obvious to anyone who was looking for the signs. Bella’s things were littered across Harry’s apartment, including her favorite pen and copy of Jane Eyre. There was a picture of Harry, James, and Bella on top of the cliffs of La Push in Bella’s room.

The flowers still came, once a week, every Monday morning and would make Bella smile.

Charlie was very pleased with himself.

Bella overheard him talking to Billy Black about what a good matchmaker he was. Billy claimed it was the forest that was doing the matchmaking.

They continued like this for months and if Bella saw small hints of something out of the ordinary—a strange looking broomstick poking out of the closet, a picture that seemed to move out of the corner of her eye—she chose to ignore it. No, Harry was her solid, true, and human boyfriend.

Her relationship with Jacob Black deepened over these months and, if he seemed a little jealous of Harry, Bella chose not to say anything about it. Harry was mature in a way that Jacob wasn’t—in a way Edward wasn’t. Edward played at being a teenager and in some ways remained one over the decades. Harry had lived through his teenage years, gone to medical school, and had become a doctor. He now lived with a failed marriage behind him and a child he adored.

One night, over chocolate fondue in Seattle, Bella asked what she had been dying to ask.

“Tell me about Ginny. How you have James.”

Harry immediately tensed but then he forced himself to relax. “Everyone expected me to go into covert operations—it’s a long story,” he said when Bella was clearly about to ask about it. “I went into medicine instead. I wanted to heal people.” He reached out and touched the faded scar of where James had bitten Bella. “Ginny, she—well, she was unimpressed. Being a doctor wasn’t flashy enough for her. She knew that with my connections I would make head of my department and she wanted to be on the arm of someone that glamorous.”

“That seems silly. You’re such a natural at being a doctor,” Bella soothed, taking Harry’s hand.

He smiled at her. “Thank you.” He kissed her hand. “Ginny was a professional athlete. But she was never quite good enough. She just made the cut off for her league and then she became pregnant with James.” His eyes hardened. “She complained and complained but she wouldn’t go on—birth control because they could hinder how she played. So when she got pregnant again, she didn’t tell me. Instead she made an appointment at the hospital I worked at and got an abortion.” He closed his eyes in pain. “I saw her when she was coming out and I knew the men and women who were with her. I just knew what had happened.”

“Oh, Harry, I’m so sorry.”

Harry looked into her eyes and then glanced away, as if it was too painful to look at her. “There was a divorce after that. When the judge learned what Ginny had done, how she didn’t want kids, I got James Sirius. And then I just had to get away. I couldn’t stand the sight of her or her family and, if you remember, her brother is my best mate. It’s all just too painful.”

“How far along was she?” Bella asked hesitantly.

“Four months, Isabella,” he replied almost savagely. “Past her first trimester. She didn’t have the decency to do it sooner.”

The table fell silent after that until Bella finally spoke. “I’ve never really thought about having children,” she murmured. “Mom’s been such a complete incompetent that I just never thought. I brought her up, in a way. So I suppose I’d be good at it.” She shared a smile with Harry. “I certainly wouldn’t give it the name Sirius, though. Where did you get that from?”

“My godfather,” Harry answered cheekily.

“Well, his parents were crazy,” she laughed, her eyes focusing around the room until they settled on a very familiar form. “Alice,” she murmured.

Harry suddenly looked at her intently. “Cullen?”

Bella nodded, not taking her eyes off of Alice, afraid that she would disappear. “She was my best friend. I guess that’s Jacob now.”

Following her line of sight, Bella could tell when Harry saw Alice for the first time. He looked back at her. “Do you want to leave or—“

“No. Let’s see if she has anything to say.”

Alice, clearly hearing them, stood up and made her way over to the table. She was exactly as Bella remembered her. Wearing designer jeans and a top that probably cost the mortgage for a month of a regular family, she stood with her pixie-cut hair and her paler than pale skin. “Bella,” she greeted. “I see this is your boyfriend.” No question in that comment.

Bella stared up at her. 

“Edward saw in my mind—and yes, I know he knows—Dr. Potter proposing and he—“

“He what?”

“Edward thought that he wanted you to have a normal human life, a human existence, marriage, family—everything without him interfering. But now, now that it’s happening, it’s too much. He’s turning himself into the Volturi, asking to be killed. They’ll refuse, of course—“

“You’ve already seen it,” Harry put in.

She nodded.

“I hate prophecies,” he added cryptically.

Alice seemed to take it in stride. “Edward’s already made up his mind what to do if they refuse. He’s going to reveal himself as a vampire to humankind so that he has to be put to death. If he could see you, Bella, see that you’re alive and—well, unattached—he might change his mind.” She smiled apologetically.

Bella closed her eyes painfully and took a deep breath.

Alice gasped.

Bella paid her no mind. “You were going to propose?” She looked directly at Harry who was looking straight back at her. “But I—my parents—divorce—“

“We can prove them all wrong,” he stated firmly, taking a small box from his breast pocket.

Alice huffed. “Edward—“

“Can wait another five minutes,” Bella said harshly, not even looking at her, showing how much she had grown from the timid girl she had been who had been screaming from her nightmares. “Go back to your table.”

In an instant, Alice was gone.

Harry opened the box. In it was an ornate gold ring with golden filigree that encased a large diamond. “I know it’s a bit—much. But my grandfather Charlus gave it to my grandmother—“

“Charlus?” Bella asked, glancing away from the ring to him and then back to the ring again.

“Charlus,” he confirmed. “They were married happily for decades and I thought it would bring us luck.”

“Us? Harry, I haven’t even graduated high school.”

He smiled at her warmly. “I know. And you will. And in the next month you’ll decide where you want to go to college and James and I will follow you there. I want you to go out to parties, have fun, throw bashes at our house while your stuffy old husband and your stepson cower in the study. I don’t want to hamper you in any way but, Isabella Swan. I love you, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”

Harry looked at her imploringly, begging her to understand.

“Don’t make me wait until our wedding night,” Bella hedged and he smiled even wider.

“Tonight, if we can get free from Alice.”

“Tonight.”

She kissed him, long and slow, and he slipped the ring on her finger. Pulling away, she smirked at him. “Does Charlie know?”

“Of course Chief Swan knows. I had to ask permission.”

Bella laughed despite herself.

Alice was once again standing in front of the table. “Unfortunately, that was exactly as Edward and I Saw it,” she bemoaned. “But what are we going to do about Edward?”

Harry looked over at Bella. “It’s up to you, Isabella.”

She chewed on her lower lip.

“When you find him, tell him that I’m happy,” she said finally, not looking at Alice.

“Bella, please.”

“He made his choice. Now I’m making mine,” she stated firmly, looking down at the beautiful engagement ring. “He left me behind and, well, somewhere along the line I left him behind, too.”

Alice had not been pleased but she had left quietly.

With Charlie’s blessing, Bella moved into Harry’s apartment that very weekend and soon all of her things were scattered about. Neatly, of course. However, the bedroom was most drastically changed. Harry had to bring in extra shelves for all her books and a desk was added for her new laptop and for homework.

The apartment was small, with only two bedrooms—one doubled as James’s room and Harry’s study—a living room/dining room and kitchen. Bella loved it.

Angela was often over after school, babysitting James, and she and Bella would do homework together and sometimes just talk about what they wanted for life after school.

Bella didn’t go down to La Push as often. Jacob had become distant and with that distance, Bella became involved in her own little world.

She was surprised just how drastically her social life changed. All of a sudden she was invited to dinner parties with other doctors and their spouses. One weekend she attended a Benefit in Seattle. Harry had gone out with her and purchased a dress for her that was worthy of Rosalie and Alice, and Bella had difficulty not being a wallflower. She felt so intimidated by everyone, but Harry was always at her side.

Wedding planning had unfortunately commenced. Harry thought it would be best if they were married before Bella went off to whatever college she chose, so that left only the summer. Bella had been adamant that she be married in a simple dress and had even gone with Angela, Jessica, and Lauren to Port Angeles to find something suitably bridal. They’d come away with a short white dress that was sophisticated and figure hugging that Bella thought Harry would like. She also picked up some white flats. She was still as clumsy as ever and didn’t want to be tripping over heels. Naturally, she hid these items at the back of the closet away from Harry’s prying eyes. Strangely, she found what looked like a wand on a back shelf but she shrugged at it and put it back where she had found it.

Then it happened, one night when Harry was working late at the hospital. Bella was sitting in the living room, James in his playpen on the floor. She’d told Angela to go home and be with her family as Harry would only be a couple of hours. 

There was the sound of a pop and then, in her living room, was standing a woman with long red hair and dark brown eyes—James’ eyes.

Staring at each other, neither one blinked.

“Muggle,” the woman stated, putting away what looked to be a wand. “Figures.”

“I—how did you get in here?” Bella squeaked after finding her voice.

The woman didn’t pay attention to her. “Is Harry here?”

“Obviously not.” Bella looked the woman up and down. She seemed to be wearing jeans and then robes. It was astounding. “I could call the police if you don’t leave.” She took out her cell phone.

Immediately it was in the woman’s hand. “I don’t think you will be.” The woman took a chair from the table and sat down in it with some grace. Bella was almost jealous of her. 

Looking around the room, Bella could see as the woman picked up pictures of her and Harry. A pout formed on her lips but she didn’t say a word. She didn’t even look in James’ direction.

When he began to make a bit of a fuss, Bella looked hesitantly at the woman with strange powers, and went to him. She picked him up and started rocking him back and forth. “There you are, little man. Everything’s okay.” She hoped rather than thought that the words were true.

It was an agonizing hour where the woman just sat there and Bella rocked James, praying that Harry would be home. When Bella finally heard the key in the lock, she wanted to call out to him and tell him to run, but the words stuck in her throat. The door opened.

“Harry!” the woman said, standing up. “Look at this strange Muggle technology.” She held out Bella’s cell phone.

Harry’s eyes went wide and he looked between Bella and the woman. He grabbed the cell phone. “Isabella, why don’t you take James into the bedroom and I’ll deal with Ginny here. There’s nothing to be frightened over.”

“No,” Ginny interjected, taking out her wand. “I think this Isabella needs to stay here. Is she the girl you’re marrying? I heard from Hermione that you—“

“Isabella, go into the bedroom,” Harry stated firmly and Bella didn’t need to be told twice. She still didn’t have her cell phone.

She crouched down on the bed, holding James and hearing Harry and Ginny yelling at each other. It was clear that Harry’s ex-wife was angry that he was remarrying and Harry was angry that she had found out where he was living—from this Hermione, it appeared.

After what must have been only half an hour, there was another popping noise and Harry entered the room, his hand outstretched, phone in hand. Bella accepted it gratefully.

“Is she—is she gone?”

“Yes, and she’ll stay that way,” Harry promised darkly, going to the closet and pulling out the wand that Bella had found earlier. He starting making various motions and chanting in what seemed like Latin and Bella could only stare and hope that James wouldn’t make a fuss. However, the infant seemed to be fascinated at what appeared to be his father’s spellcasting. He clapped his hands and smiled widely.

Harry glanced over at them and smiled at the picture they made. Bella must have looked intrigued and James was clearly overjoyed.

Finally, he put the wand down on the bedside table and he came over and took James. Leaning down, he kissed Bella. “Ask.”

“That was—magic,” she stated, trying to wrap her head around it. “There aren’t just vampires in this world, there are magicians.”

“We’re called wizards, but yes.”

The two looked at each other for a long time.

“What’s a Muggle?”

“A non-magical human,” Harry supplied.

She nodded. “So you’re human.” She held her breath.

“Yes.”

“Oh thank God.” Bella collapsed in on herself. “I was so worried.”

“Do you want me to sleep on the couch tonight so you can think or--?”

Bella leaned forward and kissed him. “No. I want you to put James to bed, get undressed from work, and tell me everything.” And he did. Bella learned of magic, and blood purity, and Harry’s mother being a Muggleborn, and Hogwarts, and Voldemort, and the curse scar, and the Order of the Phoenix, and the War and Harry’s part in it. She learned more and more—of Quidditch, of Weasley Wizard Wheezes, of werewolves and Veela, and tournaments where you could die and Harry almost did.

In the end, Bella was snuggled in Harry’s arms as he talked to her about the future that had been planned out for him, how he was supposed to be an Auror, then chief, then go into politics and become Minister for Magic. How he had wanted none of that but wanted to heal so that he could save someone else’s parents, like he hadn’t been able to save his own, or his godson Teddy’s.

“No, I’m not angry,” Bella finally said. “I—I want you to be who you are. I want you to use magic around the house, when Angela is not around. I want you to be who you are, I want you to heal, just like you want me to be who I am and to have the full college experience.”

Harry kissed her temple. “I love you, Isabella Swan.”

“I love you, Dr. Harry Potter,” she murmured back.

She fell asleep in his arms.

The wand was later kept in the nightstand and was always out when it was just the three of them. Harry would cook with it, do the family laundry although Bella insisted she was more than capable. Harry would also make lights dance in front of James so that he would laugh and clap his hands. Clearly this was an old game between the two of them.

Bella had been thinking about it for almost a week when she finally brought up over dinner—“Harry, I think we should reenter the magical world.”

He looked up at her startled. “Isabella?”

“You’re a wizard. You should be with your kind. And you’re a healer—you knew about my vampire bite. I’m sure there’s so much more you could do in a magic hospital than a—a Muggle one. If you were ready to we could go back to London. I got accepted two days ago to UCL.”

She looked down at her food, afraid to see his reaction. The sound of a chair scraping across the floor met her ears and then there were lips pressed against hers. “I love you, Isabella.”

“Is that a yes?”

He nodded, looking down at her. “How do you know I’ve been missing it?”

“I—well—I miss Phoenix. I figured you must be missing England and that hospital was in London, right?”

He smiled and kissed her again. “It’s settled then. I’ll put back in my application for September, and I already have a house. It needs some serious work done on it, you’ll see what I mean, but you’ll grow to love it. Kreacher, our house elf, has revitalized the place since the War but it needs a woman’s touch.”

Bella was laughing now. “Yes, yes, and yes to all of that.”

Telling Charlie had been difficult. At first he looked angry at Harry but then he seemed more upset than anything, that they would be so far away.

Harry insisted the packing could take place easily after the wedding and so, on a Saturday morning in June, Bella walked down the aisle in the little town of Forks. Angela was her only bridesmaid. Reneé had flown up with Phil but also, in the audience, had been Edward.

When he got her alone for a dance, Harry recognizing him as a vampire but being none the wiser as to who he was, although Charlie had been staring daggers at him all morning, Bella felt chills run through her. This wasn’t right. Edward was too hard, too unyielding—too cold. 

“You married a wizard,” he stated by way of a greeting, “or didn’t you know?”

“A human, like you always wanted,” she spat back. “Why are you here, Edward?”

“Alice told me how you wouldn’t come to Volterra. I’m glad you didn’t. I wouldn’t want the Volturi to know about you.”

Bella scrunched up her brow. That was rather cryptic. “Wish me well and then please leave. There’s nothing left for you here,” she whispered, breaking from his grip. She stared into his golden eyes and was thankful that he had recently fed.

“I wish you well,” Edward stated and then he walked away.

She took in a deep breath and then exhaled slowly. Finding Harry again, she kissed him deeply to the sound of catcalls from their onlookers. The two broke apart and laughed, looking into each other’s eyes.

This is where she belonged. Here. In the present. With Harry.

**The End**


End file.
